News

MIDWAY SPORTS HITS HOME RUN WITH MLB SLUGFEST 20-03 AS NUMBER ONE SELLING BASEBALL VIDEOGAME FOR PLAYSTATION 2 IN 2002

 

Year-End Sales Figures Show MLB SlugFest 20-03 as Top-Selling Baseball Videogame for PlayStation 2 in 2002

 

CHICAGO– Feb. 10, 2002 – Midway Sports, the sports brand of leading software industry publisher and developer Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), announced today that MLB SlugFest 20-03, the first-ever adrenaline-style console baseball videogame, was the top-selling baseball videogame for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system in 2002. MLB SlugFest 20-03 launched on the PlayStation2 in June 2002, followed by the Xbox video game system from Microsoft and the Nintendo GameCube versions in August 2002.

According to NPD Funworld, MLB SlugFest 20-03 has outsold every competitive baseball game individually for the PlayStation 2 by two-to-one since its launch. In the month of July 2002, MLB SlugFest 20-03 hit a home run with consumers everywhere, outselling all competing PlayStation 2 games’ combined sales by a nearly two-to-one margin, and any single PlayStation 2 competitor by five-to-one. Sales figures for all PlayStation 2 baseball games from 2002 revealed that MLB SlugFest 20-03 outsold all competing PlayStation 2 games in the category, making it the best-selling PlayStation 2 baseball game in 2002. (NPD Funworld, July – Dec. 2002)

 “It is incredible to have become the best-selling PlayStation 2 baseball videogame the first year we have been on the market,” said Helene Sheeler, vice president of marketing, Midway. “We will continue to build off this success and deliver what gamers have come to expect of the MLB SlugFest franchise.”

 

About MLB SlugFest 20-04

 

Officially licensed by Major League Baseball Properties and MLBPA, MLB SlugFest 20-04 is the exclusive aggressive-style baseball videogame experience, delivering a proprietary blend of hardcore, lightning-fast, adrenaline-style gameplay combined with key baseball features that please even the most hardcore sports fan. MLB SlugFest 20-04 also features cover athlete Jim Edmonds of the St. Louis Cardinalsâ along with real MLB players, teams and stadiums.

MLB SlugFest 20-04 will offer real Major League Baseball® athletes with over-the-top abilities, including turbo-powered running, play-of-the-week-caliber fielding and out-of-the-park hitting. In addition, all-new features add plenty of adrenaline, including new modes such as Create-A-Team, which allows gamers to form their own All-Star team; Customizable Instant Replay, allowing gamers control of the camera and the ability to view their towering home runs and diving catches; and Home Run Derby®, which pits gamers’ favorite MLB players against the most feared long ball hitters in the league.

            Graphically, MLB SlugFest 20-04 combines more than 1,500 animations with revolutionary player models, resulting in each player being mapped to his exact likeness. Stadiums are also rendered to perfection. Authentic batting stances and pitch motions also add to the realism of the game as players in the field look and throw, and batters and pitchers look and swing, like their MLB counterparts.

MLB SlugFest 20-04 also features music from Hoobastank along with original DVD content that includes the behind-the-scenes making of the game and Jim Edmonds highlight footage: A Day in the Life with Jim Edmonds.  

Scheduled to ship in March 2003, MLB SlugFest 20-04 will be available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boyâ Advance.

 
About Jim Edmonds

Entering his tenth full Major League Baseball® season, Edmonds has made his mark on the baseball world since his 1993 rookie season. In 1998, his over-the-shoulder, diving catch received an Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) award as the Play of the Year. Edmonds has won five Gold Gloves in the past six seasons, including three in a row since joining the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000. Edmonds finished the 2002 season with a career-best .311 batting average, helping to lead the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series. He ended the season ranked in the National League™ top ten in batting average (9th), slugging percentage (10th), and on-base percentage (6th). During his three seasons as a member of the Cardinals, Edmonds has accumulated better than a .300 batting average, hit over 100 home runs and collected more than 300 RBI.

 

MLB SlugFest 20-04 Key Features:

  • NEW - Create-A-Team: Create your own All-Star team SlugFest style. Combine your favorite players from both leagues into one powerhouse ball club, then work your way to a World Series® championship.

  • NEW - Customizable Instant Replay: Relive those towering home runs and diving catches. Take control of the camera and view highlight-quality plays from any angle you desire.

  • NEW - Home Run Derby®: Square off against the most feared long ball hitters in the league and decide once and for all who is the king of swing.

  • NEW - Play-By-Play and Color Commentary: Same popular announcers. All new dialogue!

  • NEW - Authentic Batting Stances and Pitching Motion: The batters look and swing, and the pitchers look and throw, like their real MLB counterparts.

  • NEW - Fantasy Stadiums and Characters.

  • NEW - Music featuring Hoobastank’s hit song, “Crawling In The Dark.”

  • NEW - Expanded Rosters: Now 20 players per team including six pitchers.

  • “Jimmy Shorts” and Tim Kitzrow return with all new SlugFest-style humorous color commentary.

  • Challenging Adrenaline-Style Gameplay: Turbo running, fielding, batting, and throwing.  Midway pumps the adrenaline up a notch with hard-hitting batters, gas-throwing pitchers, and plays-of-the-week-caliber fielding to provide the best possible baseball videogame experience.

  • Unmatched Player Animations: More than 1,500 player animations and nine motion capture actors deliver the smoothest running, fielding, batting, and pitching animations of any baseball videogame.

  • Revolutionary Player Models and Graphics: MLB SlugFest is recognized for having the most beautiful graphics of any baseball videogame. Players have faces mapped to their exact likeness and every stadium is rendered to perfection.

  • MLB- and MLBPA-licensed product: All your favorite MLB teams, players and stadiums.

  • Updated Schedules, Uniforms and Stadiums.

  • Cover athlete Jim Edmonds of the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • Original DVD content that includes the behind-the-scenes making of the game and Jim Edmond’s highlight footage: A Day in the Life with Jim Edmonds.

 

Midway Games Inc. is a leading developer, publisher and marketer of interactive entertainment software. Midway videogames are available for play on all major videogame platforms including the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy® Advance.

For more information about Midway Games visit www.midway.com.

 

# # #

 

MIDWAY and SLUGFEST are trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc.  You can reach Major League Baseball on the web at MLB.com.   MLBPA-Official Licensee, Major League Baseball Players Association.  Visit the Players Choice on the Web at www.bigleaguers.com.  The MLBPA logo is a trademark of the Major League Baseball Players Association. 

 

Midway has provided the www.bigleaguers.com  and MLB.com links solely as a convenience for you. The information on these sites has been prepared by third parties, and Midway does not monitor, endorse or accept responsibility for the content on non-Midway sites.

 

“PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.  Xbox and Microsoft are trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.  Nintendo GameCube, the Nintendo GameCube logo and Game Boy Advance are trademarks of Nintendo.  2001 Nintendo.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

 

This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning future business conditions and the outlook for Midway Games Inc. (the "Company") based on currently available information that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the financial strength of the interactive entertainment industry, dependence on new product introductions and the ability to maintain the scheduling of such introductions, technological changes, dependence on major platform manufacturers and other risks more fully described under "Item 1. Business - Risk Factors" in the Company's current Transition Report on Form 10-K and the other filings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.



Bookmark and Share Share | Digg! Digg This | Glink It Glink It
For More Product Information
MLB Slugfest 20-03 (PS2)